District 105EA Environment

Lion Environment Contest

Lions Environment Contest is open to all Lions / Lionesses / Leos in 105EA with three trophies: one for Lions, one for Lionesses and one for Leos. This is for any environmental project the Club has been involved in during the year between conventions. Please see the links below for tips and Ideas of what your club can get involved with. If Club Secretaries can advise the Environment officer of any projects they are, or will be involved with for consideration.

Protecting Our Environment

The environment is a major concern for communities and people around the world. During the last century alone, the world lost more than 80 percent of its original forests, which provide a source of livelihood, protection from natural disasters and absorb carbon dioxide emissions that lead to global warming.

Lions have an opportunity to bring attention to the environment and show the strength of our worldwide network during a special “Protecting our Environment Centennial Service Challenge.”

Protect the Environment to benefit 25 million people and be part of the Centennial Service Challenge!

We invite your club to join Lions around the world to protect the environment. Help us raise awareness on the importance of protecting the environment in connection with Earth Day. Or, organize hands-on projects throughout the month that mobilize your club members to improve your community’s environment.

Resources

Use the following resources to plan and promote your “Protecting our Environment” Centennial Service Challenge project.

Share your Success

You can help spread the word! Encourage your Lions club officers to report service activities through MyLCI, the online membership and activity reporting system. For more information, visit MyLCI and review our frequently asked questions about service activity reporting. Lions clubs that participate and report activities through My LCI’s online service activity report will be awarded a special banner patch in recognition of their contribution to service.

There is also a project to celebrate our 100th anniversary, we are asking Lions to help reach our Centennial Service Challenge goal of serving 100 million people by June 2018. Please follow these links http://youtu.be/v_58kTBDYoc

LIONS ENVIRONMENTAL PHOTO CONTEST

For District 105Ea this is covered under the Phil Daubeney Environment Photographic Competition. see here

ADOPTING A BEEHIVE

Across the world the population of pollinating insects including butterflies, moths, bumble bees, honey bees and mayflies is declining.

The decline in honey bee numbers is especially worrying because they account for 80-90 per cent of pollination, which in turn accounts for a third of the food we eat. In the US the bee-per-hectare count has fallen nearly 90 per cent since 1961, and in China some crops are now pollinated by hand using feather brushes because there aren’t enough bees to do the job.

The possible cause of decline is habitat loss and disease. Fewer ‘cottage garden’ plants used, intensive monoculture type farming, loss of wild areas or meadow lands and the varroa mite was first spotted in the British Isles in the 1990’s and has spread rapidly since then. It sucks on bee blood which transmits infection and causes weakness and deformity.

With so many big problems it can seem overwhelming, but there are practical steps we can all take to make a difference for the honey bee and all our insects.

By Adopting a Beehive with the BBKA you will be supporting fundraising to support the honey bee. You can read about practical projects they are funding on the BBKA’s website

Stuck for a gift idea? Adopt A Beehive is a great gift for any garden or nature lover.

Honey bees are the little things that run the world.

If you are interested, the website is www.britishbeeorg.uk and the address is National Beekeeping Centre, National Agricultural Centre, Stoneleigh Park, Warwick CV8 2LG – Tel: 02476 696679 or Fax: 02476 690 682.

Saving a Bee

If you see a bee of any description on the floor or not flying other than on a flowering plant, it is STARVING! You can help.

We are currently well into the ‘June Gap’ – the time between when the Spring flowering plants stop and the Autumn flowers start producing pollen and nectar.

You can help by mixing two parts sugar to one part water and offering the syrup to the bee. She (and they are mostly ladies) will happily drink from a teaspoon. You’ll see her little black tongue as she drinks. It will take about 10 minutes for her to convert the syrup to energy, but she will fly away if you’ve helped her in time. The feeling you get on seeing her recovery and flight is well worth your time.

They can’t thank you, so I will on their behalf.

If we do not help the bee population, and they are in great need at the moment, their time on mother earth will soon diminish because without bee’s busy pollinating our plants food soure we could all be dead in 5 years!!!!!

I wish I had a bigger garden as I would have some bee hives to help their numbers grow, so those of you who have land to spare and they don’t need much, please please look into giving bee’s a home……because you would not only help the bee population to grow but also as a bonus they will provide you with some Amazing Honey too

Bees with Backpacks: Keeping the Hive Alive

By attaching tiny tracking devices to the backs of honey bees, one Australian scientist hopes the insects will reveal why the global bee population is in serious decline.

Nearly ten thousand bees on the remote Australian island of Tasmania are buzzing around with little sensor “backpacks” about the size of a grain of rice. These tiny technology trackers offer clues to a mysterious environmental tragedy that threatens the world’s food supply.